Fortress

Fortezza is the reinterpretation of one of the most important novels of the 1900s: The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati. Three soldiers arrive at a solitary military garrison which no longer serves any defensive function. Here, time is at a standstill and is marked by strict regulations, power dynamics, engrained idleness and habit. Waiting in vain for an enemy that will not arrive, the military officers are consumed by the need to give their stay meaning, and resist the attraction that this place holds for them. The adaptation was filmed entirely inside Civitavecchia prison, with protagonists and co-authors who are prisoners themselves, the trademark of co-director Ludovica Andò. Caught in a balancing act between fiction and documentary, a group of prisoners reveal the limits and humanity of the condition of incarceration by getting on stage. Some of the soldiers remain free within the fortress, others leave the fortress as prisoners. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)